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Hello, everybody, so glad to see you!
Hello, everybody, so glad to see you!

Hello to SOPHIE so glad to see you!
Hello to SOPHIE so glad to see you!

Repeat for all kids. Maybe pass a ball or drum to signal who’s turn it is. Also, there is a quick moment between each verse where we call out the next kid’s name to make sure we sign the right name. End with greeting MOMS, DADS, GRANDMAS, or just repeat first EVERYBODY verse.

Irritatingly, last month I went to buy a pack of Mercilon pills from my local pharmacy in Beijing and they didn’t have it. Not only did they not have Mercilon, but they had a shelf full of Marvelon. Ugh. I just switched from Marvelon to Mercilon because it looked like all the pharmacies no longer carried it. And now it’s available again.

So now I’m going to try to go back to Marvelon. I bought 4 boxes, so I can be set for a while. They are 32.8元 per box. That’s almost half the price of Mercilon. More importantly, I have felt like my moods have been more severely up and down with Mercilon and also my skin has been breaking out almost constantly. I blame the pill, but who knows. There are always other factors with these things.

I found this advice on switching, which seems the same as going the other direction:

Switching Pills – {21 day to 21 day} Changing to combined preparation containing different progesterone (21 day combined preparations) continue current pack until last tablet and start first tablet of new brand the next day. If a seven day break is taken before starting new brand, additional precautions (barrier methods) should be used during the first 7 days of taking the new brand.

I’m mostly vegetarian, so one of the best parts about living in China is the tofu.

However, I hardly ever eat that silky white slimy stuff that you buy in boxes in American grocery stores. Tofu options are on every menu (and are sadly sometimes accompanied by scraps of actual meat) and you can buy an array of prepared tofu that advertise as fake fish, chicken, etc. And at actual (usually Buddhist) vegetarian restaurants here, the vegetarian fake meats are extraordinary. Those are often not tofu, but rather seitan (AKA pure gluten!). My sister adores the mock duck, for instance, and that is usually seitan.

In addition to tofu, Chinese cuisine has a ton of soy-based sauces. Overall, I’m less fond of them than the tofu.

Anyway, so here’s what I have learned about all this delightful stuff:

Tofu is called 豆腐 (dòufu) and comes from soy beans (黄豆, huáng dòu).

Seitan is wheat gluten and is called 面筋 (miàn jīn)

Prepared tofu. A brand I have bought from larger grocery chains is 白玉 (báiyù). Found in the refrigerated section, often near prepared meats. They have a few flavors including 素啤酒肉片 (sù píjiǔ ròupiàn), which is sweet and can add flavor to an entire dish. Here’s a link to all Baiyu’s tofu-related products.

I’ve barely scratched the surface here on all the tofu that needs describing… the tofu that comes in flat sheets and can be cut with scissors. There is 腐竹 (fǔzhú) — is that soy? I’ll need to add some pics to this post and fill in a lot more when I find the time!

And if you want to explore non-vegetarian meat alternatives, there is an awesome thing called 鱼豆腐 (yú dòufu) which is not really fish or tofu, but like a kind of fish leftovers hot dog thing shaped into lovely cubes perfect for putting on skewers to barbecue or fry up with veggies. We enjoy tossing with Old Bay seasoning and frying. I have also made a decent pot pie with it.

Ok, so I’m making the switch from Marvelon to Mercilon. It should be ok, since it’s the same contents just at a lower dosage. As I said previously, they both contain ethinylestradiol and desogestrel but Marvelon has 30 micrograms and Mercilon has 20 micrograms. I talked to my sister and she seems to remember that this was the pill she was on for awhile without major problems — and she’s more sensitive than I am to headaches, bloating, and stuff.

I messed up the switch though. When starting this new pill, I should have skipped the “off” week. These packs contain 21 pills and after you complete a pack, you have 7 days where you don’t take anything. However, if you are starting a new pill you should go ahead and start the new pill, so there is no gap between the pills. Now that I’ve started Mercilon essentially 7 days late, I have to follow the instructions for 7 missed pills and wait 7 more days until I’m fully protected from getting pregnant. Here’s what I found online:

What do I do if I miss a pill?
If you forget to take your pill at your usual time, take it as soon as you remember. A missed pill is one that is 24 hours or more late. If you miss a pill, follow the instructions below.

One pill missedIf you forget to take ONE pill, or start your new pack one day late, you should take the pill you missed as soon as possible, even if this means taking two pills at the same time. Then continue taking the rest of the pack as normal. You will still be protected against pregnancy and you don’t need to use extra contraception.

Two or more pills missed

If you forget to take TWO or more pills, or start your new pack two or more days late, you won’t be protected against pregnancy. You should take the last pill you missed as soon as possible, even if this means taking two pills at the same time. Leave out the other missed ones. Then continue to take your pills, one every day, as normal. You should either not have sex, or use an extra barrier method of contraception, eg condoms, for the next seven days.

If there are fewer than seven pills left in your pack after your last missed pill, you should finish the pack and then start a new pack straight away without a break. This means skipping your pill-free week.

I wish there wasn’t such a significant difference in price. These pills cost 68 rmb, I think, and before I was paying less than 30 rmb for a pack of Marvelon. Oh well. It’s the fucking evil pharmacy companies taking advantage of a corner on the market here.

Today I stopped by another pharmacy to ask for Marvelon and the pharmacist was eager to sell me on Yasmin. Also a Bayer product and even more expensive than Mercilon at over 100rmb per box (i.e. per month). What gives?